Early Norwegian Settlements in Oregon

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Map of Oregon 1895
Multnomah County, Oregon
   In the City of Portland, which is in this county, there are quite a few Norwegians and quite a few of them came here fairly early. However, it is impossible to say who came first.
   In 1876 a Norwegian Lutheran was established - the first not only for Portland but for the whole State. Pastor Lauritz Carlson of the Norwegian Synod was its first priest. The first Norwegian church in Portland, that similarly was the first in the State, was built by a Methodist congregation in 1883. Now there are 4 Norwegian congregations and 4 churches in the city, 2 of them belong to The Methodist Church, 1 to The Norwegian Synod and 1 to The United Church.
   The Norwegian Iver Fretland of Portland has been a Member of the State Legislature.
   For information about "Vidnesbyrdet" and Pacific Skandinaven" see the section, 'Norwegian-American newspapers and periodicals in America'.

Marion County, Oregon
   The first real settlement (of Norwegians) in Oregon was established at Silverton in this county. P. K. Johnson was the first who settled there.
   Now there are 5 Norwegian congregations and 4 churches (in Marion County), 2 of them belong to The United Church, 1 to The Norwegian Synod, 1 to the Methodists and 1 to the Adventists.

Columbia County, Oregon
   The first permanent Norwegian in this county was Cato Parelius, who settled at Quincy in 1873. He was from Hitteren.
   A Norwegian Lutheran congregation was established there in 1886. Now there are 3 small congregations in the county, 2 belong to The Norwegian Synod and 1 to The Methodist Church.

Clatsop County, Oregon
   The first Norwegian farmer in this county was Hans Anderson from Egersund. He settled at Mishawaka in the 70s.
   The first in the vicinity of Westport was Iver Hansen who settled there in 1879.
   But even before that time there were Norwegians who had settled at the fishing town Astoria, where our people are quite numerous. Also there, the county's first Norwegian congregation was established - in 1877. The congregation belongs to The Norwegian Synod and its first priest was E. Christensen†. The first Norwegian church in the county was built by the Methodist congregation in 1888. Now there are 6 Norwegian congregations and 3 churches in Clatsop County, 2 of them belong to The Norwegian Synod, 2 to the Methodists and 2 to The Lutheran Free Church.
   Three Norwegians have held public office in Astoria, T. Brække† as Justice of the Peace and Paul Stangeland and L. O. Bjelland as City Councillors. Also there (in Clatsop County), Hans Lorentsen and a Mr. Svindseth were recently nominated for the State Legislature but they belonged to the losing Party.
   In this county there is a post office with the name Swensen.

Washington County, Oregon
   Phillip Olsen from Moss was the first, or at least one of the first Norwegian settlers in this county. He settled at Reedville in 1882. There is a little Norwegian settlement there with a congregation belonging to The Methodist Church.

Lane County, Oregon
   The first Norwegian in Junction City, where there are a few Norwegians, was C. L. Hansen from Drammen. He settled there in 1893. P. Jacobsen, K. K. Notland and J. Larsen came next after Hansen.
   In Eugene there are also a few Norwegians of whom A. M. Newman (Amund Nymon) from Maalselvedalen was the first.
   There are two Norwegian congregations in Lane County, one belongs to The United Church, the other is a free congregation.

Lincoln County, Oregon
   The founder of the Norwegian settlement at Toledo was Otto O. Krogstad from Drammen. He came from Walsh Co., N. D. and settled there as a pharmacist in 1894. Later in the year came Hans O. Olsen†, P. Tellefsen and T. Tellefsen, all from Stavanger, Carl Knudsen from Christiansand, Andreas Krogstad from Drammen, O. E. Rache from Sogn, Henrik Tronsen from Bergen and Anton Bredesen, born in Wisconsin.
   Otto Krogstad is the only Norwegian to hold public office here. He is a magistrate in Toledo.
   Pastor C. M. Nødtvedt of The United Church established a Norwegian congregation at Toledo (or in Ny Hardanger, as the Norwegian settlement was called) in 1897. This congregation built a church in 1902. There are no other Norwegian congregations or churches in this county.

Clackamas County, Oregon
   In the vicinity of Kelso there is a small Norwegian settlement. Torkel Johnsrud was the first, or at least one of the first, there. At Monitor there are also some Norwegians.
   There are three Norwegian congregations and one Norwegian church in this county, one belongs to The Norwegian Synod, another to The United Church and the third to The Methodist Church.

Baker County, Oregon
   The first Norwegian to settle in this county was Eilert Eilertsen. He was from Vernon Co., Wis. and settled as a farmer at Haines in 1886. However, there are not many Norwegians in his neighbourhood but in Baker City there are some. See 'Sammenstilling af norske Sambygdinger i Amerika'.
   There is a post office called Norway but the Norwegians are extremely few.

Jackson County, Oregon
   Near the California border where my current work was completed, a number of Norwegians are found in the vicinity of Ulvestad Post Office.
   In this connection I will take the liberty of of telling a true anecdote about myself. It goes so:
   Naturally, people became weary of Martin Ulvestad (me) and the consequence was often that they refused to take my questionnaires out of the post office, they let them be sent back to Minneapolis where I lived. But then I had the clever idea of changing the name. On the envelope I printed for example, 'Publisher of Statistics', 'Publisher of Norway' etc. And when I could not come up with more names that suited, I sent the letters without a name - that is, no name or return address. Just the same it happened they did not wish to receive them since from the postmark they saw that they came from Minneapolis - and from me, obviously. But then I moved to Oregon.
   And - while I have been busy with the work - and always felt pressed with its associated costs, the advocates for 'Det norske Selskab' (The Norwegian Society) has been busy telling (through newspapers) that they will publish a similar work.* And people who have believed and waited for them have naturally found it superfluous to support me.
   But inasmuch as one works for a good cause and has sufficient faith in it, one will be in a position to continue. Instead of complaining I will give thanks. All that is significant about the Norwegian-American people I have now managed to scrape together - gotten information about. The finances will also straighten out.
   In Union County there is a post office with the name Hilgard that certainly sounds Norwegian but the author has been disappointed with the hope of finding any Norwegians in that area.
*It should be noted that I have a couple of personal enemies in this Society and that was because they in this manner sought an opportunity to injure me and in this way they also had the chance to advertise themselves. The society as a whole is without fault. But should these men actually decide to publish a similar book then perhaps this one (now finished) will be of help? Or perhaps they will restrain themselves from using my work since I (unfortunately) do not possess any of what is known as higher education. It is in any case the only defense I can wish for in this circumstance nor can it be relied on. These advocates (not the Society) are of the sort to take the fruits of the toil and drudgery of others.

Translated by Olaf Kringhaug
Vernon, British Columbia, Canada
Nordmændene i Amerika by Martin Ulvestad, 1907
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